Lucknow, Sep 26 The Congress on Saturday claimed that the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the appointment process for the election commissioners, and the alleged internal dissent within the poll body have dealt a fatal blow to democracy.
Congress MLA Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ and party national spokesperson Abhay Dubey raised serious questions about the CEC’s role while speaking to reporters.
They questioned the BJP government over changes to the selection process for election commissioners under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which received the President’s assent on December 28, 2023.
Earlier, under Article 324(2) of the Constitution, the CEC and the two election commissioners were selected by a committee comprising the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the chief justice of India.
Then, on the committee’s advice, the President would appoint the election commissioners.
But the 2023 Act replaced the chief justice of India in the selection committee with a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister.
Congress leaders questioned the exclusion of the chief justice of India, citing that on March 2, 2023, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice KM Joseph, unanimously backed the earlier selection process.
They also referred to Gyanesh Kumar’s appointment as the CEC and the note of dissent filed by Rahul Gandhi on February 19, 2025.
Dubey claimed that Gandhi, in his dissent note, objected to excluding the CJI from the selection committee, saying that it ran counter to the spirit of the Supreme Court’s 2023 verdict.
Gandhi also cited various inconsistencies within the rules, Dubey said.
Citing a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected on record 14 times over 10 months to unilateral decisions made under CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the Congress leaders questioned why those objections were not addressed.
Highlighting various discrepancies in the SIR process, the leaders asserted, “The most critical question today is not merely whether the Election Commission possesses the authority to conduct an SIR. Rather, the fundamental question concerns the level of transparency, adherence to statutory procedures, and institutional consensus involved in decisions affecting the electoral roll, the basic premise of democracy.
(PTI News)
